Well here the children have had a great time coming to nursery over the last few days playing in the snow, and we have made it a fabulous learning opportunity for them. We carry out a daily review of the weather and the service we can provide and despite schools and nurseries closing throughout Essex I am delighted that Play 2 Learn will be open again today ( Friday ).
Friday closures as of 0830 hrs
Primary
Acorns pre-school
Annexe playgroup
Arthur Bugler
Aveley
Baptist pre-school
Belmont childcare
Benyon
Bonnygate
Bulphan
Chafford Hundred
Corringham
Deneholm
Dilkes
East Tilbury Infants and Juniors
Graham James
Herringham
Holy Cross
Horndon on the Hill
Kennington
Lansdowne
Little Thurrock
Manor Infants and...
The charity push was announced six weeks ago, predicting that they would be receiving 50 shoe boxes- maximum. Then last week, during a moving assembly, (based on children who would not be receiving presents at Christmas) one child got up and surprised the Head Teacher Tess Walker with the final figure (105 shoe boxes). The announcement made all of the staff very proud of the students.
We are continually impressed with the healthy state of Thurrock Schools this year. Exam results have exceeded all expectations and there is a general "feel good factor " in school corridors.
Students from William Edwards secondary school had some extra special visitors in the form of olympic champions, Kris Akabusi and Jamie Baulch.
As part of their ‘SuperSchools Project’, Kris and Jamie spent the day inspiring the students to ‘be the best that they can be’. It was clear from the energy in the room that the students all thoroughly enjoyed the event and found these Olympic Champions truly captivating.
A sound start has been made to addressing the areas of weakness from the last inspection. Staff have been united by incisive leadership and share the same drive for improvement. Subject leaders adopt a more systematic approach to their leadership role than previously and are beginning to share with the senior staff the evaluation of monitoring of teaching and learning in their subject areas. However, monitoring of the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is not yet in place.
A student choir from Palmer’s College, Grays, were in fine tune when they performed in front an international audience this week at a conference organised by the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics.
Pupils at Ormiston Park Academy have been involved in a unique project to research their own royal roots, as well as their school’s royal roots, in celebration and preparation of witnessing the royal wedding in 2011. It all started when the news broke that Prince William had proposed to Kate Middleton. The next day, a number of students began asking their English teacher a number of questions about why this wedding would be so important for the British public.
Around one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training. Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10 million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1 billion every year. The Princes Trust address this by giving practical and financial support to the young people who need it most. They help develop key skills, confidence and motivation, enabling young people to move into work, education or training.
Alex, a 16 year old A-level student from Stanford-le-Hope, also has a part in the production, and said, “I’m really happy to see something I’ve written being performed. I’ve always been interested in writing and it’s gratifying to see that I’m doing well.” The Dating Game is one of two plays being performed by Thurrock Youth Theatre at Thameside Theatre on 25 and 26 November.
We get to visit a lot of schools in Thurrock and we continue to be impressed. Only this week visited two outstanding schools, Treetops and Chafford campus.
Last night we were guests at St Clere's prizegiving evening and witnessed the standard on show there. The film of the event will appear here shortly but we were impressed with headteacher Paul Griffiths when he spoke of Thurrock's reputation.
